1. Psalm 102 -- The Holocaust Psalm?
2. WHAT IS A PALESTINIAN by Joseph Farah
3. [bprlist] Antichrist: Jew or Gentile?
4. Re: [bprlist] Antichrist: Jew or Gentile?
5. [bprlist] Psalm 102
6. Jordanian-Egyptian proposal calls for construction freeze
7. Arutz-7 News (5/13/01)

   1. NEW COURSES IN JUDAISM, ZIONISM, LAND OF ISRAEL
   2. IDF TARGETS, KILLS TERRORIST CHIEF
   3. A SELECTION OF PALESTINIAN ATTACKS
   4. MOFAZ: "SIGNAL, NOT DESTROY"
   5. ARAFAT ON WAY TO WHITE HOUSE?
   6. HA'ARETZ COLUMNISTS ACCUSED OF SLANDERING ISRAEL
   7. ISRAEL TO SUPPLY WATER TO JORDAN
   8. CONFLICTING VOICES ON A SETTLEMENT FREEZE
   9. COMPARING DEATHS: NO COMPARISON
   ****QUOTE OF THE WEEK****

8. Harpazo.net News items (5/13/01)

   More Iraqis Start Training to Help Palestinians
   Iran Says Turkey Manipulated By Israel
   Assad to Meet Mubarak in Sharm el Sheikh
   Hague Ally Issues Hitler Warning
   Goering Bunker Could Be 'Euro Army' Base
   Russians Arrive On Catīs Feet to Test Missiles in Chandipur
   Businessmen Hope to Clone Dracula

To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Psalm 102 -- The Holocaust Psalm?
From: owner-bpr@philologos.org
Date: Sun, 13 May 2001 14:11:32 -0000
--------

Psalm 102 -- The Holocaust Psalm?

David Dolan is an American journalist who has lived and worked in
Jerusalem since 1980. In his most recent book, "Israel in Crisis:
What Lies Ahead?" he tells the reader that he gets many questions
dealing with modern Israel's rebirth as a sign that the prophesied
end of the age is upon us. The one portion of Scripture that he
quotes to verify this belief to those that ask this question is Psalm
102. After a time of personal study he has come to believe that this
particular Psalm predicted the Holocaust and the subsequent
restoration of Jerusalem and that the generation that witnessed these
events will also be the generation that sees the Lord coming back to
reign in his Holy City.

The following is a brief study of Psalm 102 using some of his ideas
and comments as presented in his book. Dolan is not dogmatic in any
of his viewpoints. His style is non-confrontational. He simply shares
his findings and presents them as best he can. The reader can take
them or leave them. I'll do the same here. They are being shared with
you now as simply something for you to reflect upon in your studies.
I hope you find them at least interesting, if not useful.

Psalm 102:1-3
"Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee. Hide not thy
face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto
me: in the day when I call answer me speedily. For my days are
consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth."

Surely the last line of this passage reminds us of the horrors of the
Holocaust and the death camps where prisoners were thrown into the
crematoria?

While the phrase "like smoke" appears in the KJV, and most of the
modern translations as well, the original Hebrew, as Dolan argues,
reads "in smoke." Young's Literal Translation of the Bible would
seem to confirm this:

"For consumed in smoke have been my days,
And my bones as a fire-brand have burned."

The Hebrew word for smoke is "ashan" (Strong's 6227). Its root word
means simply "to smoke either literally or figuratively."
Metaphorically in the Bible it is used to describe God's anger.

Aside from any knowledge of the Hebrew language the reader may have,
the context itself would seem to indicate that "in smoke" is the
preferred translation if taking a literal viewpoint, which is the
primary usage of the word. Its figurative usage is secondary. Note
that the author of Psalm 102 says that his "bones are burned" and
thus the smoke he refers to is directly related to this. In other
words, his burning bones are the source of the smoke and so his days
are literally consumed "in" smoke, not "like" smoke.

The next interesting portion of Psalm 102 that lends credibility to
Dolan's claim that this portion of Scripture is describing the
Holocaust occurs in verses 4 and 5:

Psalm 102:4-5
My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat
my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my
skin.

This, as Dolan explains, reminds us of the starvation that the
prisoners of the death camps went through. My mind immediately
recalls the pictures I've seen of emaciated bodies huddled near a
barbed-wire fence in a death camp somewhere. According to Dolan,
starvation was the main cause of death at the German Buchenwald camp.

Buchenwald, one of the largest concentration camps in Germany, was
established in 1937 as an area to hold political detainees and
criminals. It later developed into a camp for "asocial elements." But
it wasn't until the war broke out that a major influx of Jewish
prisoners arrived to the camp.

"Buchenwald, like Dachau and other concentration camps on German
soil, was never an annihilation camp for the Jews. In this it
differed from the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex built in Poland, one of
the sites where millions were systematically exterminated. Though
many Jews died at Buchenwald, particularly in 1945 after being forced
to march from other camps farther east, its primary purpose was the
imprisonment and torture of anyone opposed to the regime." [1]

In verse 4, the phrase "so that I forget to eat my bread" threw me
off in that it didn't seem to go along with a forced starvation
scenario, until I looked at the Hebrew definitions. The Hebrew word
that has been translated "forget" is shakach or shakeach, which
according to Strong's definitions means "to mislay, that is, to be
oblivious of, from want of memory or attention."

But from Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions we get a broader
picture of what this word tries to convey:

1) to forget, ignore, wither
        1a1) to forget
        1a2) to cease to care
        1b) to be forgotten
        1c) to cause to forget
        1d) to make or cause to forget
        1e) to be forgotten
 
The underlying Hebrew meaning of "forget" is more than a simple
memory lapse.

Continuing our study into Psalm 102:

Psalm 102:8-9
"Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against
me are sworn against me. For I have eaten ashes like bread, and
mingled my drink with weeping,"

First, let's look at verse 8 and a few other translations to get a
better understanding of what is being described:

"All day long my enemies insult me. Those who ridicule me use my name
as a curse." (God's Word Translation)

"All the day my enemies taunt me, those who deride me use my name for
a curse." (RSV)

"My enemies have reproached me all day long; Those who deride me have
used my name as a curse." (NASB)

The literal Hebrew reads: "my enemies...have sworn by me."

What the KJV, as well as the original Hebrew, is describing by the
phrase "sworn against me" is a Hebrew expression meaning "my very own
name has been used as a curse against me." [2] What the RSV and NASB,
as well as some other modern translations, have done is recognize
this expression. The word "name" does not appear in the original and
so it appears in italics in the RSV and NASB. But before anyone takes
objection to this, the KJV does the very same thing throughout its
translation. It simply makes for a more readable text.

Now as to the interpretation as possibly alluding to the events
during the holocaust. According to Dolan the yellow star that the
Jews were required to wear was literally using the Jewish name as a
curse.

"Jews throughout Nazi-occupied Europe and North Africa were forced to
wear a yellow star on their clothing. It was patterned after an
ancient six-sided symbol connected to Israel's exalted King David.
The Jewish prophets foretold that the Messiah would come from Judah,
David's family tribe. The yellow stars had the name 'Jude' printed
on them. This is the modern name of the ancient Hebrews -- Jews --
derived from the tribe of Judah." [3]

Actually "Jude" is the German word for "Jew." [4]

Verse 9 is very interesting and creates a disturbing image in terms
of the Holocaust interpretation:

"For I have eaten ashes like bread,
and mingled my drink with weeping,"

Dolan reminds his readers of Spielberg's portrayal of the Holocaust
and how it captured the aspect of what this verse may be portraying:

"The ashen remains of cremated bodies billowed out of towering camp
chimneys, only to rain back down onto the camps when the winds were
contrary. Thus, inmates were sometimes forced to breathe in, and even
taste, the sooty remains of their fellow Jews." [5]

Verses 1 through 12 of Psalm 102 are filled with depression, but the
mood suddenly changes at verse 13 as we see the restoration of Zion:

Psalm 102:13-14
"Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour
her, yea, the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure in
her stones, and favour the dust thereof."

This is an interesting portion of Scripture when viewed in terms of a
law that exists in Jerusalem. Dolan explains that most buildings in
Jerusalem must be faced by off-white Jerusalem stones to give the
modern city "an ancient, timeless, and quite intriguing look." He
further explains the effect this has: "When the skies are blue and
the sun bright, as on most days, the city glows with brilliant light.
When the sun rises in the east, the buildings normally display a
pinkish tint. When it is setting in the west, all of Jerusalem
reflects its golden hues." [6]

Psalm 102:15-18
So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of
the earth thy glory. When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall
appear in his glory. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and
not despise their prayer. This shall be written for the generation to
come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.

The above passage is David Dolan's prooftext to show that the
generation that saw the Holocaust would be the same generation that
saw the restoration of Zion. Note the last sentence where the Hebrew
word "acharon" has been translated "to come." Dolan takes the
position that this should be translated as "last" to stay true to the
original Hebrew which reads "last generation" (l'dor acharon).
According to Strong's dictionary "acharon" means "hinder; generally
late or last; western" and can be translated as either "last"
or "come." Acharon is translated as "last" 20 times in the KJV and
eight times as "to come." There is actually a variation of acharon
that means "coming" or "another" but it is spelled as acheret.

All of the translations that I have render the verse as meaning "a
generation that is to come" or "a later generation." None of the them
give the meaning of a "last generation" although the word "acharon"
can mean that. It would have been a daring move indeed for any
translator to render the word as such I imagine. Dolan says that
they "wimped" out on giving the literal Hebrew translation of verse
18 stating "the implications of the actual Hebrew phrase are
enormous." [7]

In other words, Dolan believes that the generation of Jews that saw
and/or experienced the Holocaust would be *the* last generation
before the end of this age -- the final generation of history as we
know it. It would be this Holocaust generation that would live to see
the restoration of Zion and the coming of the Lord to reign in that
city.

All we are waiting on now is the coming of the Lord!

_______________

Source

[1] "The Germans Want Their History Back" by Roger Cohen;
http://www.fpp.co.uk/Auschwitz/Buchenwald/NYT120999.html; Also
see "Buchenwald; http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/text/x04/xm0465.html)

[2] Dolan, David. "Israel in Crisis: What Lies Ahead?"; House of
David Publishers, (c)2001; p. 37

[3] Ibid., p. 38

[4] For representations of the various badges that were worn by the
Jews please see http://holocaustcenter.org/holocaustbadges.shtml

[5] Dolan, p. 38

[6] Ibid., p. 36

[7] Ibid., p. 42

========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] (Fwd) WHAT IS A PALESTINIAN by Joseph Farah
From: <OWNER-BPR@PHILOLOGOS.ORG>
Date: Sun, 13 May 2001 10:30:24 -0500
--------

------- Forwarded message follows -------

Did I see a query recently asking, 'What is a Palestinian'? If so this
might be appropriate for the list.

Blessings Stafford

----------------------- Original Message -----------------------
From: "Rabbi Kalman Packouz" <PACKOUZ@AISH.COM>
To: Rabbi Packouz's ShabbatShalom List
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 11:52:30 -5
Subject: WHAT IS A PALESTINIAN by Joseph Farah ----

What is a Palestinian? WorldNetDaily.com - April 25, 2001 By
Joseph Farah

Ever since I wrote a column last October called "Myths of the
Middle East," readers from around the world have asked me what
is meant by the term "Palestinian."

The simple answer is that it means whatever Yasser Arafat wants it to
mean.

Arafat himself was born in Egypt. He later moved to Jerusalem.
Indeed, most of the Arabs living within the borders of Israel today
have come from some other Arab country at some time in their life.

For instance, just since the beginning of the Oslo Accords, more than
400,000 Arabs have entered the West Bank or Gaza. They have come from
Jordan, Egypt and, indirectly, from every other Arab country you can
name.

The Arabs have built 261 settlements in the West Bank since 1967. We
don't hear much about those settlements. We hear instead about the
number of Jewish settlements that have been created. We hear how
destabilizing they are-how provocative they are. Yet, by comparison,
only 144 Jewish settlements have been built since 1967 -- including
those surrounding Jerusalem, in the West Bank and in Gaza.

The number of Arab settlers is based on statistics collected on the
Allenby Bridge and other collection points between Israel and Jordan.
It is based on the number of Arab day workers entering but not leaving
Israel. The numbers were published by the Israel Central Bureau for
Statistics during the administration of Binyamin Netanyahu and
subsequently denied as "recording errors" by the Ehud Barak
administration.

Of course, the Barak administration had incentives for denying the
high illegal immigration numbers, given its heavy political reliance
on Arab voters.

Is this a new phenomenon? Absolutely not. This has always been
the case. Arabs have been flocking to Israel ever since it was
created and even before, coinciding with the wave of Jewish
immigration into Palestine prior to 1948.

Winston Churchill said in 1939: "So far from being persecuted, the
Arabs have crowded into the country and multiplied till their
population has increased more than even all world Jewry could lift up
the Jewish population."

And that raises a question I never hear anyone ask: If Israel's
policies make life so intolerable for Arabs, why do they continue to
flock to the Jewish state?

This is an important question as we see the Palestinian debate
now shift to the issue of "the right of return."

According to the most liberal claims by Arab sources, some
600,000 to 700,000 Arabs left Israel in and around 1948 when the
Jewish state was created. Most were not forced out by Jews, but rather
left at the urging of Arab leaders who had declared war on Israel.

Yet, there are far more Arabs living in these territories now than
ever before. And many of those who left in 1948 and thereafter
actually had roots in other Arab nations.

This is why it is so difficult to define the term "Palestinian." It
always has been. What does it mean? Who is a "Palestinian"? Is it
someone who came to work in Palestine because of a bustling economy
and job opportunities? Is it someone who lived in the region for two
years? Five years? Ten years? Is it someone who once visited the area?
Is it any Arab who wants to live in the area?

Arabs outnumber Jews in the Middle East by a factor of about 100 to
one. But how many of those hundreds of millions of Arabs are actually
Palestinians? Not very many.

The Arab population of Palestine was historically extremely low-
prior to the Jews' renewed interest in the area beginning in the early
1900s.

For instance, a travel guide to Palestine and Syria, published in 1906
by Karl Baedeker, illustrates the fact that, even when the Islamic
Ottoman Empire ruled the region, the Muslim population in the city of
Jerusalem was minimal.

The book estimates the total population of the city at 60,000, of whom
7,000 were Muslims, 13,000 were Christians and 40,000 were Jews.

"The number of Jews has greatly risen in the last few decades, in
spite of the fact that they are forbidden to immigrate or to possess
landed property," the book states.

Even though the Jews were persecuted, still they came to
Jerusalem and represented the overwhelming majority of the
population as early as 1906.

Why was the Muslim population so low? After all, we're told that
Jerusalem is the third holiest city in Islam. Surely, if this were a
widely held belief in 1906, more of the devout would have settled
there.

The truth is that the Jewish presence in Jerusalem and throughout the
Holy Land persisted throughout its bloody history, as is documented in
Joan Peters' milestone history on the origins of the Arab-Jewish
conflict in the region, "From Time Immemorial."

It is also true that the Arab population increased following Jewish
immigration into the region. The Arabs came because of economic
activity. And, believe it or not, they came because there was more
freedom and more opportunity in Israel than in their own homelands.

What is a Palestinian? If any Arabs have legitimate claims on
property in Israel, it must be those who were illegally deprived of
their land and homes after 1948. Arafat has no such claim. And few if
any of those shooting, bombing and terrorizing Israelis today do
either.

Joseph Farah is editor and CEO of WorldNetDaily.com and writes
a daily column.

------- End of forwarded message -------

========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Antichrist: Jew or Gentile?
From: owner-bpr@philologos.org
Date: Sun, 13 May 2001 15:47:43 -0000
--------

Two opposing statements. Only one can be right. Which is it?

From a WorldNetDaily article in February 1999
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_exnews/19990204_xex_jerry_falwel.
shtml

"On Jan. 14, Falwell told a conference on evangelism that he believes
the Second Coming probably will occur within 10 years.

"As for the Antichrist, 'if he's going to be the counterfeit of
Christ, he has to be Jewish,' Falwell said. 'The only thing we know
is he must be male and Jewish.'

David Dolan in "Israel in Crisis: What Lies Ahead?" page 174:

"One thing seems irrefutable to me, if not to many others: The
Antichrist will *not* be Jewish! The popular notion that he will hail
from 'one of the tribes' is based on the unbiblical assumption that
Israelis will accept him as their long-prophesied Messiah. This is
nowhere stated in scripture."

========
To: <BPRLIST@YAHOOGROUPS.COM>
Subject: Re: [bprlist] Antichrist: Jew or Gentile?
From: "Richard"
Date: Sun, 13 May 2001 09:42:06 -0400
--------
Hitler, Karl Marx, and Stalin were Jewish. Just a thought.
-Rick-

----- Original Message -----
From: <OWNER-BPR@PHILOLOGOS.ORG>
To: <BPRLIST@YAHOOGROUPS.COM>
Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2001 11:47 AM
Subject: [bprlist] Antichrist: Jew or Gentile?

>
> Two opposing statements. Only one can be right. Which is it?
>
>
> From a WorldNetDaily article in February 1999
> http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_exnews/19990204_xex_jerry_falwel.
> shtml
>
> "On Jan. 14, Falwell told a conference on evangelism that he believes
> the Second Coming probably will occur within 10 years.
>
> "As for the Antichrist, 'if he's going to be the counterfeit of
> Christ, he has to be Jewish,' Falwell said. 'The only thing we know
> is he must be male and Jewish.'
>
>
> David Dolan in "Israel in Crisis: What Lies Ahead?" page 174:
>
> "One thing seems irrefutable to me, if not to many others: The
> Antichrist will *not* be Jewish! The popular notion that he will hail
> from 'one of the tribes' is based on the unbiblical assumption that
> Israelis will accept him as their long-prophesied Messiah. This is
> nowhere stated in scripture."

========
To: <BPRLIST@YAHOOGROUPS.COM>
Subject: [bprlist] Psalm 102
From: Pam
Date: Sun, 13 May 2001 14:08:16 -0400
--------

    Thank you for "Psalm 102- The Holocaust Psalm". Before commeting on
Mr. Nolan's interesting application of this Psalm to the Holocaust, I
want you know I agree, wholeheartedly, with your closing statement "All
we are waiting on now is the coming of the Lord! " Praise the Lord!
    Mr. Nolan may be right in his conclusions but I think it is equally
viable to conclude the Psalm is referring to the second 3 1/2 years of
Daniel's 70th week. This, I think, will be the time of 'Jacob's
trouble' and will end when those who are in Jerusalem are told to flee,
without taking any of their goods with them, Matt.27:14; Mark 13:15;
Luke 17:31. All the conditions spelled out in Psalm 102 will, I think,
be present during that period and, following it, Our Lord will return in
Glory, Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit and the 1,000 years
reign of Our Lord will begin. Praise the Lord!

God Bless you. Charlie Baker.

========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Jordanian-Egyptian proposal calls for construction freeze
From: "research-bpr" <RESEARCH-BPR@PHILOLOGOS.ORG>
Date: Sun, 13 May 2001 14:58:22 -0400
--------
Ha'aretz: Jordanian-Egyptian proposal calls for construction freeze
including eastern Jerusalem

Uzi Benziman Ha'aretz 11 May 2001

[Excerpted from Benziman's column.]

It is no accident that among the amendments to the Jordanian-Egyptian
document the government is demanding is the formulation: "The government
of
Israel will not establish any new settlements in the West Bank and Gaza,"
while the original version states: "There will be an immediate and total
freeze on all settlement activity in the Palestinian territories that were
occupied in 1967."

The difference revolves not only around a total freeze as opposed to
refraining from the establishment of new settlements, but also around the
definition of the relevant territorial area: While the Egyptian-Jordanian
proposal speaks of "the territories occupied in 1967," Israel is particular
about saying "the West Bank and Gaza." Note that from the Arab point of
view, this geographical area also includes East Jerusalem, while from the
Israeli point of view, the neighborhoods that have gone up in territory
annexed to Israel after the Six-Day War are not settlements.

--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il

========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Arutz-7 News (5/13/01)
From: "research-bpr" <RESEARCH-BPR@PHILOLOGOS.ORG>
Date: Sun, 13 May 2001 15:14:55 -0400
--------
Arutz Sheva News Service
  <HTTP://WWW.ISRAELNATIONALNEWS.COM>
Sunday, May 13, 2001 / Iyar 20, 5761

http://NewsFromIsrael.com - Arutz Sheva's All-English Newsradio

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
   1. NEW COURSES IN JUDAISM, ZIONISM, LAND OF ISRAEL
   2. IDF TARGETS, KILLS TERRORIST CHIEF
   3. A SELECTION OF PALESTINIAN ATTACKS
   4. MOFAZ: "SIGNAL, NOT DESTROY"
   5. ARAFAT ON WAY TO WHITE HOUSE?
   6. HA'ARETZ COLUMNISTS ACCUSED OF SLANDERING ISRAEL
   7. ISRAEL TO SUPPLY WATER TO JORDAN
   8. CONFLICTING VOICES ON A SETTLEMENT FREEZE
   9. COMPARING DEATHS: NO COMPARISON
****QUOTE OF THE WEEK****

1. NEW COURSES IN JUDAISM, ZIONISM, LAND OF ISRAEL
Education Minister Limor Livnat announced today that next year's curriculum
will include three new courses on Jewish tradition and Zionism. One course
will feature classes in Jewish culture, holidays, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, the
weekly Torah portion, Israeli symbols, and important figures in
Zionism. It will begin in the junior high school grades, with the
intention of instituting it in grades K-12 in the future. In addition, a
course entitled "Love of Homeland" will be given in elementary school
classes, while 10th-graders will study "Eretz Yisrael and Archaeology,"
with an emphasis on Jerusalem.

2. IDF TARGETS, KILLS TERRORIST CHIEF
The IDF successfully killed a Fatah-Tanzim terrorist officer in a
helicopter attack in Jenin yesterday. Three or four missiles were rained
down on his car as he was driving with friends; two of the latter were
mortally wounded, as were 15 passers-by, and a PA para-military policeman
was killed. The targeted terrorist was responsible for the war's only
mortar shell fired onto a Jewish town in Shomron - the community of Kadim,
ten days ago - as well as for the manufacture of mortar shells in the
area. Fatah announced that it would avenge the killing, which it called
"organized state terrorism."

Tawfiq Tirawi, the PA General Security Chief in Judea and Samaria whose
headquarters were destroyed in an Israeli raid last week, said this morning
that his men would act to thwart Palestinian mortar attacks on Israeli
targets. He said that such attacks "hurt more than they help."

3. A SELECTION OF PALESTINIAN ATTACKS
Amidst a series of Arab attacks on Israeli targets over the weekend, the
following stand out: Soldiers in Gaza detected an armed Arab making his
way from Khan Yunis to the N'vei Dekalim industrial zone; they shot and
killed him, thus averting an attempted murderous attack… Arabs from a
neighboring village attempted to cause an explosion in a public park in
Mevaseret Zion last night… Twelve mortar shells were fired towards Jewish
targets in Gaza; one Israeli was lightly wounded… A 13-year-old girl from
Bat Hefer, east of Netanya and within the Green Line, was lightly hurt when
shots were fired on her town from the PA city of Tul Karem. A wall was
recently erected just east of Bat Hefer to prevent such attacks… Shots
were fired at an IDF force near the Kisufim border fence, not far from
where a bomb killed two Romanian workers on Thursday…

Late this afternoon, an Israeli was lightly wounded when his car was shot
at between Ma'aleh Levonah and Shilo. Kol Rina News Agency reports that
two Israelis were wounded in the same area three months ago.

Three mortar shells were fired on N'vei Dekalim in Gush Katif yesterday -
lightly wounding one person - and three more shells were launched towards
at Kfar Aza, bringing the total number of mortar shells shot at Israeli
targets during this war to 146. Arutz-7's Kobi Finkler reports that there
were no less than 25 shooting attacks over the weekend.

The army arrested five Palestinian Authority civilians over the weekend,
all of whom are suspected of attacks against Israeli forces. The five,
including two Tanzim agents, were arrested after the IDF blocked off main
entrances to the village and searched houses within the village, located
near Tul Karem.

4. MOFAZ: "SIGNAL, NOT DESTROY"
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Sha'ul Mofaz made an appearance at the
government's weekly Cabinet meeting today and briefed the ministers on
Israel's current military strategy in the war against the PA. His basic
message was that the purpose at present is not "to destroy the PA, but to
signal it... We aim to pursue the terrorists themselves and those who
dispatch them, and to reduce their freedom of action." Defense Minister
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer criticized Mofaz and called on him not "speak in
cliches." Ministers Uzi Landau and Tzippy Livni were also not pleased with
Mofaz's portrayal, and demanded to know if the army had submitted
operative
proposals to the government that were not approved.

Mofaz told the Cabinet that there is a "division of labor" among the
Palestinians: "Hamas and the Islamic Jihad concentrate on terrorist
attacks within the Green Line, while Fatah, Tanzim, and the PA security
agencies carry out attacks in Judea and Samaria." He further said that the
PA is working to inculcate the Palestinian population with the need of
fighting a war.

Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi called for the bombing of every place where
PA manufactures weapons. He further recommended the "jamming and
bombing of
PA media broadcasting stations used to incite to the murder of Jews."

Arutz-7's Haggai Seri asked Minister Danny Naveh today, "Isn't it time for
the government to signal a bit less and start smashing a bit
harder?" Naveh responded, "I cannot relate to that which was said at the
meeting today, but it's clear that there has been a sharp and clear change
of policy over the past weeks - one that has been painful for the
Palestinian Authority - involving our pro-active activities and attacks. I
am convinced that this will continue. It is true, however, that it does
not appear that the PA has understood the message that it has much to lose
if it continues with the terrorism and violence, and therefore our strong
deterrent strategy must continue until he does - possibly even more strongly."

5. ARAFAT ON WAY TO WHITE HOUSE?
Yasser Arafat may be one step closer to an invitation to the White
House. His deputy, Abu Mazen, is scheduled to meet in the coming days
with
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, for the purpose of paving the way for
a Bush-Arafat meeting. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told Arutz-7 eight
years ago, "There is no man with more Jewish blood on his hands since
World
War II than Arafat..." HaModia reported on Friday that the Sharon
government has been making major efforts to convince the Bush
Administration that Arafat, who apparently feels he has nothing more to
lose, "is a danger not only to Israel and the region, but also to the
moderate Arab regimes that may be toppled by a surge of Moslem
fundamentalism in support of Arafat's war cries, and consequently to
American interests as well."

6. HA'ARETZ COLUMNISTS ACCUSED OF SLANDERING ISRAEL
Israel's Foreign Service is not happy with the performance of Ha'aretz
reporters Gideon Levy and Amira Hass. The Israeli Embassy in Rome sent
a
telegram to the Foreign Ministry, sharply criticizing Levy for sitting on a
panel with a Palestinian spokesman and attacking Israeli policies. "The
two joined forces in abusing the Israeli government, vying between
themselves to see who could slander Israel more - and in my opinion Levy
won," Embassy spokesman Ofer Bavli wrote. Ha'aretz, reporting on the
telegram, also noted that similar criticism of Levy had been made four
months ago, and that there are reports of Foreign Ministry criticism about
Ha'aretz writer Amira Hass. Levy responded that the telegram "causes more
harm to the State of Israel and its image as a democracy than 1,000
appearances by me."

7. ISRAEL TO SUPPLY WATER TO JORDAN
National Infrastructures Minister Avigdor Lieberman has announced that
despite Israel's water troubles, Israel will still send Jordan the yearly
quota of 50 million cubic meters stipulated in the treaty between the two
countries. This, reports Arutz-7's Shira Gal, despite the fact that the
treaty's water clauses expired in 1999. Israel is currently short some 400
million cubic meters of water for this year. Infrastructures Ministry
spokesman Sagiv Rotenberg said, "It's very simple. We can't dry up the
whole area around us just because we have a problem with water." He noted
that three desalination plants are in various stages of planning and
construction; at least one of them is scheduled to be up and running within
18 months.

The authorities hope to save water on several other fronts: cutting back
on the irrigation of parks and public and private lawns; paying farmers not
to use all their fresh-water quotas; cutbacks in water subsidies in cities
such as Savyon and Kfar Shmaryahu; and more.

8. CONFLICTING VOICES ON A SETTLEMENT FREEZE
A May 4th poll commissioned by Israel's leading daily, Yediot Acharonot,
found that 62% of the public feels that Israel should agree to the proposal
of "ceasefire in return for a settlement freeze." (On the other hand, 49%
disagreed with the idea that Israel should "evacuate isolated settlements
and unilaterally set the border with the Palestinians;" 44%
agreed.) Several days later, the paper's editorial seconded the poll's
findings, writing, "The current government can live with the Mitchell
Report's call for a total settlement freeze in return for a total freeze on
terrorism, [as it will put] the Palestinians to the fateful test of
deciding whether or not to call off the intifada and return to the
negotiating table."

HaTzofeh came out strongly against the idea, writing last week,
        "Israel cannot accept the recommendation regarding a complete halt to
construction in Yesha." The paper added a call to the government today "to
make clear to the entire world that the Jewish communities in Yesha are an
existing fact that will not change in light of any future diplomatic
settlement... We need not apologize for the development of existing
communities and the channeling of the requisite resources."

Ha'aretz called strongly today for a settlement freeze: "Such a step,
which could result in a cease-fire, would harm the interests of the
settlers a lot less than a continuation of the violence and terrorism aimed
against them." Arutz-7's Yosef Zalmanson countered, "The settlers
themselves are in the forefront of the campaign not to give in to terrorist
demands."
        Ha'aretz: "The argument posed by Peres that a complete end to
settlement
construction would signify a reward for violence is not convincing, in
light of the levels of violence exhibited by both sides during the past
eight months... An Israeli acceptance of such a freeze would jibe with
already existing information that the Palestinian leadership believes that
a continuation of the intifada is a dead end, and facilitate the resumption
of negotiations." Zalmanson: "If the intifada is about to end, what logic
would dictate that Israel quickly reward it by giving into its
perpetrators' demands? It would be akin to the U.S., a moment before
Germany's surrender, agreeing to turn over one of its armies."
        Ha'aretz: "Does the Israeli demand for 'zero violence' also not set the
standard for the Palestinian demand for 'zero
settlements'?" Zalmanson: "Not at all. The Israeli demand for 'zero
violence' is rooted in both the Oslo agreements and human ethics, while the
Palestinian demand for 'zero settlements' is rooted in neither."

9. COMPARING DEATHS: NO COMPARISON
A coalition of American pediatricians - DOCS (Doctors Opposed to Child
Sacrifice) - says that official PA encouragement of children to participate
in violence against Israel is "societal child abuse." DOCS founder Dr.
Pejman Salimpour said, "Adults, governments, and media outlets that
encourage young children to participate in violence to further their own
political agenda are practicing a form of societal child abuse..." The
Jerusalem Post reports that DOCS called on the PA to halt broadcasts that
glorify martyrdom.

In a Letter to the Editor of a major American newspaper, Adina Livni reacts
to the media's coverage of the brutal murder of the two Jewish boys in
Tekoa last week. She writes:
        It is impossible to draw a parallel between the brutal and deliberate
torture and slayings of two innocent Jewish boys... and the killing of
Palestinian children who have been placed directly in the line of fire by
their parents and teachers in order to play upon world sympathy and support.
        Imagine the events in that cave moment by moment. Imagine the boys,
ages
13 and 14, suddenly surrounded by a group of Palestinians. Laughing with
each other, they hear voices in the cave and turn to confront a group of
strangers. When did they realize that they were going to be murdered? Did
panic grip them the moment they saw the Palestinians? Did the boys kick
and scream and try to wiggle their way free?
        We all saw the footage of Palestinians laughing gleefully as they
smashed
and mutilated three Israeli soldiers who made a wrong turn into the
Palestinian Authority-controlled town of Ramallah. As they tortured our
young boys, did the Palestinians laugh with gratified lust for innocent
Jewish blood? Did they scorn and mock the helplessness of these poor
boys? Did they spit on them and prolong their pain before they finally
killed them? From the final condition of the bodies, and the blood smeared
victoriously and viciously over the walls, what happened to these children,
as they were overpowered alone in the darkness, is a scene which can only
be relived again and again in our worst nightmares.
        As I read the paper, I am struck by the constant and unrelenting
attempts
by reporters to somehow justify these brutal guerilla attacks upon the
innocent. The excuses made between the lines for murderers range from,
'The Jews kill children too,' to, 'The oppressed Palestinians are fighting
heroically for their rights to the land.'
        Both excuses must be shown for the deceitful propaganda they really
are. Does a Palestinian child live in fear that if he or she meets a Jew
in a cave he or she will be tortured and murdered? Does a Palestinian
policeman worry that he might take a turn into a village with a
Hebrew-sounding name? Does a Palestinian mother stand at a window with
her
infant and fear for one moment that an Israeli soldier may use his
fine-toned sniper skills to shoot her little one through the brain?
        Never.
        Yes, if Palestinians are throwing rocks at Israeli civilians and soldiers,
Israeli soldiers must fight back in order to protect those whom it is their
sworn duty to protect and themselves. Yes, if Palestinians insist upon
letting school out early and deliberately place children in the lines of
fire, there will be casualties we would rather not see. But these children
are by no means killed with cold-blooded intent. They are martyred by
their parents and teachers in the hopes of breeding fodder for propaganda
against Israel. They are killed and maimed only so that Arafat can answer
the accusation that two young Jewish boys were tortured and murdered with
a
shrug and the statement that "Israel has victimized Palestinian children."
        And the reporters eat this up! They give credence to the false parallels
and lies by repeating them themselves! Woe is to us, oh Israel, for losing
the propaganda war! Not too far back in our history did we almost lose
another war, and we paid with six million. As Goebbels taught us, written
in blood and smoke and the fires of the crematorium: if the lie is big
enough and you repeat it enough times, the world will believe it. The
Palestinians, children of some of the best friends Nazism ever had, are
using this invaluable method effectively, it seems.
        As for the claim that the Jews are fair game in response to years of their
oppressing the Palestinian people, this is a bold-faced lie. It is an
example of the unnerving impudence of a people that has been given
everything in a spirit of peace and camaraderie jobs, housing, healthcare,
arms and ammunition, and is now turning all these resources against those
who provided them.
        It is my hope in writing this that sick lies and perverse excuses are held
up to the light and recognized for what they really are. I ask reporters
to pursue truth, and readers to do the same.

****QUOTE OF THE WEEK****
"We live in a tradition of martyrdom. When I see a Jew before me, I kill
him. If every Arab did this, it would be the end of the Jews."
        -- Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlas, speaking with Lebanese
television

Hebrew News Editor: Haggai Seri
English News Editor: Hillel Fendel

========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Harpazo.net News items (5/13/01)
From: "research-bpr" <RESEARCH-BPR@PHILOLOGOS.ORG>
Date: Sun, 13 May 2001 15:36:49 -0400
--------
More Iraqis Start Training to Help Palestinians
A second group of Iraqi volunteers began military training Saturday to enable
them to fight alongside Palestinians in their uprising against Israel, the Iraqi
News Agency INA reported.

INA said a first group of several thousand fighters had finished a two-month
stint of military training to prepare them to join Palestinians fighting Israeli
troops.

President Saddam Hussein, in an open letter to the Iraqi people on February
17, ordered the formation of 21 military divisions. A day earlier U.S. and
British warplanes had raided targets near Baghdad.

"The second group of volunteers in Baghdad and provinces went Saturday to
training camps in response to a pan-Arab duty to liberate Palestine and al-
Quds (Jerusalem) from dirty Zionists," the agency said. Ha'aretz

Iran Says Turkey Manipulated By Israel
Iran has accused Turkey of allowing itself to be manipulated by Israel, which
it also accused of trying to prevent stronger Turkish-Iranian relations.

Speaking at a Teheran press conference with his Turkish counterpart
Sadettin Tantan, Iranian Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mussavi-Lari attacked
Israel, which he avoided mentioning by name, using instead the term
"Zionists". Jerusalem Post

Assad to Meet Mubarak in Sharm el Sheikh
Syrian President Basher Assad, on an official visit to Egypt, will meet with
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm el Sheikh this week, Israel
Radio reported Sunday. The meeting is expected to be held Wednesday.
Assad met Saturday with Omani leaders. He is also expected to visit Algeria
this month.

Assad is also planning to visit France and Germany. These meetings are
aimed at improving Syria´s foreign relations, which have been virtually frozen
during the past few years, and at strengthening the standing of the new
president.

The Cairo summit will deal with the ongoing violence in the Mideast. Mubarak
is expected to try convince Assad not to let the violence escalate beyond the
current Israeli-Palestinian parameters of the conflict.

The Egyptians are concerned about an escalation on Israel´s northern border,
where Hezbollah has continued its actions against Israel, and which has led
to Israeli retaliations against Syrian targets in Lebanon. Ha'aretz

Hague Ally Issues Hitler Warning
William Hague faced embarrassment last night when one of his most senior
party members compared the European vision of Gerhard Schröder, the
German Chancellor, to Hitler´s personal manifesto and said Labour´s tactics
on Europe were reminiscent of the Nazis.

Sir Peter Tapsell, who nominated Mr Hague for the Tory leadership in 1997,
predicted that the British people would rise in an “explosion of rage” against
the European Union.

He listed Napoleon, Bismarck and Hitler as leaders in the past who had
proposed a European single currency and said that Tony Blair´s “prepare and
decide” policy on the euro was akin to Goebbels´s “Big Lie” propaganda
strategy. Calling for a renegotiation of Britain´s relationship with Europe, Sir
Peter said: “We may not have studied Hitler´s Mein Kampf in time but, by
heaven, there is no excuse for us not studying the Schröder Plan now.

“You may be sure that the currency section of Dr Goebbels´ Guide to
Falsehood is already well thumbed by the Labour spin-doctors.”

He spoke out as a group of Tory MPs told The Times that they would be
campaigning on a platform of never accepting the single currency. Their
stance goes against party policy, which is to oppose the euro for the
duration of the next Parliament. the times

Goering Bunker Could Be 'Euro Army' Base
The former wartime bunker of Hermann Goering could be used to command
British troops in the planned European rapid reaction force. The Ministry of
Defence says chiefs of the so-called "Euro Army" could employ the facility at
Wildpark, Potsdam. However the MoD insists there will be no permanent
European force and it will not interfere with Nato.

The Luftwaffe Reichsmarschall's old base is now a modern German army
base. According to the Mail on Sunday newspaper, it was chosen because it
is the operational headquarters of General Rainer Schuwirth, appointed head
of the rapid reaction force.

The paper says that it was formerly the bunker from which Goering directed
the Battle of Britain and the Blitz, and was used by East German and Soviet
spies during the Cold War. Ananova

Russians Arrive On Cat´s Feet to Test Missiles in Chandipur
AT 1.30 in the afternoon, a Russian air force IL-76 aircraft lumbered into the
old terminal area of Bhubaneswar airport. It had flown directly from a Russian
airbase to Bhubaneswar. Its mission had been kept secret. And amid tight
security, it started offloading its “sensitive” cargo.

Huge crates were then loaded on to waiting trucks that set off in the evening
for Chandipur: site of India´s interim missile test range. And with that, a new
chapter in the history of Indo-Russian military cooperation had begun. It´s
just that not many people knew that this was happening: not even the Orissa
police that were providing security to the cargo.

The Hindustan Times has learnt that its cargo included Russian-made OSA-
AK surface-to-air missiles, to be tested at Chandipur on sea. This is the first
time that India has let out any of its test range facilities to a foreign country.
Incidentally, there´s no charge. Hindustan Times

Businessmen Hope to Clone Dracula
A group of US businessmen have announced plans to clone Dracula by
digging up the body of Vlad the Impaler who inspired Bram Stoker's original
novel.

The decision comes after medical reports claimed that vampirism is a real
condition that could have been treated by modern medicine.

Vlad, a prince of Wallachia in the 15th century, is buried at a monastery on
the island of Snagov on a lake close to Bucharest.

The unnamed businessmen are due to visit Romania next month, according
to the Romanian daily Libertatea, where they will finalise their plans.

The newspaper also claims that the group has already approached the
Scottish research centre at Roslin, where Dolly the cloned sheep was
produced, to find out whether cloning the count is possible. Ananova

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